Balcke-Dürr and its sister company SPX Cooling Technologies will supply critical components worth approximately $100 million to Orkuveita Reykjavikur (OR), an Iceland utility. The announcement was made at a formal ceremony at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant in Iceland on Friday, May 30, 2008.
“Our products will help create one of the most modern and efficient geothermal facilities
in the world,” said Drew Ladau, President of SPX Thermal Equipment and Services.
“Iceland is a world leader in geothermal power generation and we’re pleased to play a
role in helping build their energy infrastructure.”

The components from Balcke-Dürr and SPX Cooling Technologies are slated for OR’s five planned geothermal power plants to be built at the base of Hengill volcano in Iceland. Under the terms of the contract, Balcke-Dürr and SPX Cooling Technologies will supply a complete cold-end solution for the plants, which includes engineering, design, manufacturing, and installation of a steam condensing system utilizing multiple Balcke-Dürr heat exchangers.

The new geothermal power plants, which use hot steam from within the earth to produce electricity, are anticipated to begin operation in 2010-2011 and have a total output of 225 MW. “We are pleased to support OR in the expansion of their geothermal power generation,” Ladau added. “With growing global pressure to increase generation from renewable sources, SPX and Balcke-Dürr are continuing their tradition of supplying optimized solutions for these severe duty applications.”

SPX and Balcke-Dürr executives were present for the ceremony along with Iceland’s President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and the German ambassador in Iceland, Dr. Karl-Ulrich Müller.

Claus Brinkmann, CEO of Balcke-Dürr, pointing out the importance of power generation from regenerative energy sources these days.

Signing the contract for the new geothermal powerplants in Iceland (f.l.t.r.): Jörg Stahlhut, Business Unit Leader Power Plant Components, Harald Sassmann, Managing Director of Balcke-Dürr, Claus Brinkmann, CEO of Balcke-Dürr and Hjörleifur B. Kvaran, CEO of Orkuveita Reykjavikur.